Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Delays in New CalPERS System Cause Erroneous Insurance Cancellations

Problems with the rollout of CalPERS' new computer system have led to delays in death benefit payments and generated erroneous letters telling someÂ members that their health insurance coverage has been revoked, the Sacramento Beereports.

Officials do not know how manyÂ members have been affected.

Details of the Issue

CalPERS launched its new benefit-tracking system, called "my | CalPERS," in September with assistance from Accenture, a private technology company.

The new system consolidated about 50 systems into one.Â The new systemÂ cost about $507 million, and it was implemented about two years behind schedule. Since September, programmers have made 1,340 changes or improvements to the system and carried out 16 systemwide upgrades.

The changeoverÂ has increased the time it takes CalPERS to process death benefits from about 45 days to up to 90 days.

According to Brad Pacheco -- a CalPERS spokesperson -- delays in changing a payout from a pension benefit to an initial death benefit could affect how health insurance premiums are deducted from the payment. If a payment is missed, insurers could issue a cancellation letter, Pacheco said.

CalPERS Response

CalPERS officials said that no members will have their medical coverage taken away and that the company is working to pay out death benefits as quickly as possible.

Pacheco added that CalPERS is working with its health insurance vendors including Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente to suspend sending cancellation notices.

CalPERS member services staff said last week that they plan to have the issue resolved in 60 to 90 days. They added that affected members likely would have to pay for medical expenses out of pocket and beÂ reimbursed later (Ortiz, Sacramento Bee, 11/24).

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